Battle Of Britain

[Shay]

As per some WIX'er's opinion that "Battle Of Britain" movie is a Lame duck...it's sure all over YouTube

If you feel like being transported back in time to the summer of 1940 then click the links.
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Battle of France
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Dujb_Cevk&mode=related&search=

The Beginning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNVVoH9-QH0&mode=related&search=

Spitfire vs. Stuka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufuws8odkNQ&mode=related&search=

Squadron Scramble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Metwu5h6s&mode=related&search=

"Help yourself everbody,...there's no fighter escort"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUPzgwrEuH4&mode=related&search=

Scoring a Kill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEhBnl16zAQ&mode=related&search=

"Repeat Please"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXf1bhEEXd0&mode=related&search=

Bombing London
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBPajDmJbRw&mode=related&search=

You can call me "Meier"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z__YAGCPOv8&mode=related&search=

September 15th 1940
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43zVRey2XEs&mode=related&search=

"Give Me A Squadron Of Spitfires"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjz8pAGRvsg&mode=related&search=

Finale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYoERWmZdZ8&mode=related&search=


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And this one just because I like it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUK6ScAeFKE&mode=related&search=

Adlertag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0tbKfr0Fqs&mode=related&search=

Shay
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Semper Fortis

[Mike]

As per some WIX'er's opinion that "Battle Of Britain" movie is a Lame duck...

Best aviation movie ever made, bar none.

There goes the rest of my afternoon.

[Ztex]

Well IMHO the"movie" is fairly lame...the flying is some of the best stuff on film.

Z

[Chicoartist]

Huh? The 1968/69 (whatever) BoB flick was friggin' fabulous! I picked up the "deluxe" 2-disc version and really enjoyed the "how to" extras ... I'd love to see the stock footage of that section of Vulcans zooming up right in the middle of the Spits and Hurri's during one flight! As the aerial coordinator said, "It was time to go home and change shorts after that!"



Wade

[Steve Nelson]

Love the movie, but I always fast forward through the silly soap operah scenes with Christopher Plummer and Susana York.


"Taka Taka Taka Taka Taka!!!!!!"


SN

[DSmith]

Love the movie, I was nine when it came out and remember seeing it in the theater.

[Ztex]

fast forward through the silly soap operah scenes with Christopher Plummer and Susana York

That's exactly what I'm talking about...

[Bill Greenwood]

Steve, I agree that Plummer doesn't do much for me, but that other bird, Susana York is pretty sporty.

[Bradleygolding]

Well it's one of my favorites as well, but it does have some iffy parts. If you have the DVD try switching to the William Walton soundtrack, it gives the film a whole new feel. The Goodwin score is great but a bit too 'Boys Own' for the film.

And if you want to see most of the unused footage from the film try:

www.worldbackgrounds.com

Do a search for Spitfire. Just about all the footage on offer is from B of B and runs to about 2.5 hours in widescreen or scope, although this is by no means all of it. There is still some from the other B of B film 'Dark Blue World' which is not here. No Vulcans as yet either. It is worth a look and could probably be the subject of a thread itself as it was on the Flypast Forum.

EDIT

If you do a search for Battle of Britain it brings up about another 2 hours of stuff. Including all the model work.

I have seen a 30 min film from the Stuart Uwings (sp?) at Skyleader RC about the RC models in the film, although I don't know how you could see it now short of getting in touch with him. I remember that the Stukas had a 6 foot span and were 1/8 scale as were the other fighters, but the H 111s had a 9 foot span. Some of the u/cs and spinners from these models were still at Skyleader at Croydon Airport, UK, in the 1980s when I saw them!

The stuff from World Backgrounds is of off-line quality and all has time code, but I understand that for a small fee they will put better quality versions on a DVD for you. Hope this helps.

Steve

Last edited by Bradleygolding on Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:17 am, edited 2 times in total.

[daveymac82c]

So, I've got a question about the movie.

I know that most of the shots were of real Spits, Hurricanes and ME-109's, but from what I understand, and I may be wrong, there are not flying Stukas.

I can only assume that they used remote-controlled scaled Stuka models, especially considering the bumpy handling that implies R/C, but are there any good documentaries that show how they used the models?

in fact, I'd love to see a 3 hour epic of how they made the flying scenes.

And agreed... the love story was weak and un-needed.

Cheers,

David

[Bradleygolding]

In fact World Backgrounds inform me that they have over 50 hours of footage from the movie, so the Vulcans should be there somewhere!

Steve

[JDK]

I know that most of the shots were of real Spits, Hurricanes and ME-109's, but from what I understand, and I may be wrong, there are not flying Stukas.

I can only assume that they used remote-controlled scaled Stuka models, especially considering the bumpy handling that implies R/C, but are there any good documentaries that show how they used the models?

Hah. We wish there were a doco. You are correct that there were (and remain) no flying Stukas. And, as you guess, they were flying models.

You might wonder why a 1940 era film uses 'D' Ju-87 models; that's because they did get the Ju-87 in the RAF Museum's collection running, but couldn't fly it - electrics, IIRC, but the models were in hand to copy the real thing.

They then took a couple of Percival Proctors and mocked them up into 'Proctukas' but the redefined the term 'dog'. Gary Brown wrote a history of the Proctuka saga in issue one of Warbird Digest.

The model flying (included Spitfires, Hurricanes, He111 and Buchons too) was undertaken on Malta to get the blue skies. The model film team were not pleased to be left off the film credits - the assumption being that the film-makers didn't want the public to know models had been used.

If you like the film and want to know more about it, get hold of (the late) Robert Rudhall's two books on the making of the film. 'Battle of Britain the Film' is available again from Victory Books, http://www.victorybooks.co.uk/new.htm (see lower) and the 'Battle of Britain the Photo Album' is worth tracking down.

Cheers

[Edward Soye]

James,

Thanks for mentioning the name "Robert Rudhall"! I'm a huge fan of the film, and was told of his two books some time ago but not actually given his name! The only book on the BoB flim I've been able to get a copy of is the Leonard Mosley text.

Great to have the required info to get my hands on these other books.

Again, Thanks!

Ed

[JDK]

Thanks for mentioning the name "Robert Rudhall"! I'm a huge fan of the film, and was told of his two books some time ago but not actually given his name! The only book on the BoB flim I've been able to get a copy of is the Leonard Mosley text.

Glad to have been of help. Robert Rudhall was a true gent, and I was proud to have been his friend. The books were, like the old cliché, a labour of love, but for those of us fascinated by the making or aviation films, they were the summary of several people's lifetime of work on the topic. The Photo Album hasn't been reprinted, and fetches a high price, I'm told, when found.

"Battle of Britain The Photo Album" - Robert J Rudhall, Ramrod Publications, 2001. ISBN 0953853934.

The original edition of Robert's film book is likewise highly prized and rare, so it's worth grabbing the new edition from Victory Books.

[Warbird Kid]

Excellent movie.